Just in time for turkey day, The Gifted makes its viewers–you–feel thankful for consistently coming back each week to watch the show. “threat of eXtinction” was the series’ best episode, and I said that last week about “eXtreme measures”. Episodes are getting better each week, so it’s hard to rate them at an even five stars each time; if only I was able to hand out more than five, because this one may actually deserve it.

When the Underground goes to a church to rescue a group of mutant refugees, a Trask Industries spy is hidden within them. The Mutant Underground captures the spy and then attempts to pry some information about Trask Industries out of her. All while this is happening, Reed and Thunderbird head to Reed’s father’s antique shop in order to find out more information about the secretive organization’s dealings with mutants, but Reed ends up learning a shocking secret about his and his family’s past.

What made this episode so great was the revelation that Reed learned from his father, Otto Strucker. More so about his past than his family’s, because you sort of already knew that his grandfather and his great aunt were already dangerous mutants with an extraordinary gift when they combined forces. You discovered how their combined gift worked in a flashback, which helped make sense of the power they possessed when together. But Reed’s past was what shocked me most (I won’t say, as to try and not to spoil anything for those who haven’t seen it yet). It’s pretty obvious once you think about it, and that was what made the reveal so great: it was sitting right under your noses the whole time, but in a way that hid the truth from plain sight. Much like the mutants themselves. Plus the ending of that scene was emotionally gripping, for both Thunderbird and Reed. These characters, especially, continue to develop in an excellent manner.

The Gifted continues to make connections with the real world by exploring important issues. In this week’s episode, it was Thunderbird who left you thinking with his statement about the mutants being turned by Trask, the gist of it being: you don’t stop helping those in need because one of those people may be dangerous. Sound familiar? I may be crossing some political boundaries when I say this: I thought that the message not only relates to The Gifted as a whole, but also the world that we live in. A group of people cannot automatically be deemed dangerous–or whatever word you want to use–because one person from that group does something wrong. That’s stereotyping on a global scale. It’s an important thing to remember, and I applaud the series for helping get the message across.

The short-lived team-up you saw from Blink, Thunderbird, and Eclipse when they were trying to capture the Trask spy was a highlight worth mentioning. The teamwork and cohesiveness between those three is an awesome aspect of the show, especially when you get to see it play out on the screen. It was much better than what we’ve seen from Andy and Lauren so far, although they will probably learn to join forces like their ancestors very soon. And it showed you that Trask Industries may have mutants, but they don’t have the teamwork needed to come out on top when it matters the most.

Through all the good that The Gifted has done in focusing on the importance of character development, themes, and messages instead of action and special effects, I think that there has been a little trouble in the conflict department. Only a little. Most of the conflicts are warranted, but some have made me shake my head. One example was from “eXodus”, and another can be found in this week’s episode. The big guy that came out of nowhere to show his concern for the spy-mutant being out her cell was a little…eh, what’s the point? Andy stuck up for Lauren, strengthening their bond. But I didn’t think that their bond needed strengthening. Instead, I think this small conflict was added just to connect the episode together, and it could’ve ultimately done without.

Verdict: Yet another best episode of the series, “threat of eXtinction” ups the ante by showing you the importance of Reed’s past and Thunderbird’s connection with Pulse, developing these characters further in the process. The Gifted continues to connect its world to the real one in a shockingly realistic manner, while also maintaining that its universe is completely unique by showing the awesome mutant team-up of Blink, Eclipse, and Thunderbird. Conflicts should be handled with more care, though, as once again there was an unnecessary altercation.

Review Overview

The Mutant Underground captures and attempts to pry information out of a mutant converted by Trask Industries, while Reed and Thunderbird go on a mission to learn more about the revamped organization from Reed's father.